I recently enjoyed “The Great Gatsby” musical at NYC’s Broadway Theatre, which was triggering, to say the least.
Our town’s connection to the novel is real, specific, and globally recognizable, yet Great Neck is ignoring its legacy – an untapped goldmine of cultural branding and identity.
To naysayers, Gatsby is bigger than its themes of hedonism and decadence. Rather, it resonates globally as “the” American story because it’s about ambition and reinvention, wealth and status, immigration and identity – and the pursuit of belonging. These ideals actually map well onto our town’s demographics at the crossroads of the American Dream. Very well, ol’ Sport.
The case for Gatsby, by a litigator
May it please the court of public opinion: I submit that Great Neck must stand as the global locus of “The Great Gatsby,” before the statute of limitations runs out. The evidentiary record is clear:
Resident F. Scott Fitzgerald embedded the specific geography and lifestyle of our peninsula into his story. No competing jurisdiction can establish such an entitlement, nor can a direct nexus between creator, setting, and enduring cultural impact spanning literature, film, and theater (and, to be honest, some gangsta Halloween costumes).
In failing to adopt the Gatsby legacy, Great Neck is effectively waiving rights to a global powerhouse brand. The remedy is obvious and certain—deliberate cultivation of Gatsby, through tourism, programming, and preservation to establish our town– the very place that gave rise to Gatsby– as the rightful epicenter of Gatsby.
The big question is, can we even begin to reposition our town as a destination and restore our town’s glory? The comeback is always stronger than the setback!
The Great Gatsby connection is culturally famous—but locally subtle
F. Scott Fitzgerald lived at 6 Gateway Drive for several years as he wrote about West Egg’s nouveau riche residents, bustling Main Street, the Kings Point Road shoreline with its fine homes facing Manhasset Bay, and the green light across Steppingstone dock and Marina.
Source: LI Press
